The dictionary describes loneliness as "a feeling where people experience a powerful surge of emptiness."
On a planet of nearly 7 billion people loneliness is reported as being the most experienced emotion of the human race. The more that our world grows, the more people that we have around us, the more items of amusement and entertainment that are invented and made available to distract us from our loneliness the lonelier we become. Even with all the impressive advancements and conveniences that man has developed and created for himself we remain in all respects a society of lonely individuals because science simply can not fix loneliness. A talented surgeon can fix a heart that is not beating properly but he can do nothing for one that is filled with loneliness.
God does not want nor did He ever intend that for one moment you should ever experience the pangs of loneliness because it was His desire from the very beginning that man would walk in close fellowship with Him each day of his life and therefore never become acquainted with loneliness because, with God, loneliness simply does not exist. You see, we can be "alone" with God - but you can not be "lonely" with God. And if you do not know the perfect love of God as evidenced through His Son Jesus Christ then you are missing the entire purpose of life.
Are you someone who is lonely? There are many ways and different places that we can experience loneliness. For example: the elderly lady who had to leave her home that she lived in for fifty years to go and live in a nursing home. The death of a spouse can certainly create a devastating feeling of loneliness. When the children have all grown and leave home it can create a sense of loneliness for the parents. When a brave American soldier finds himself taking cover in a cold muddy trench during war time and his loneliness is interrupted only by the sounds of mortar fire and machine guns. An 8 by 10 jail cell can induce an overwhelming loneliness. Being the new kid in school can be a lonely experience. Each of these are times in which we can experience loneliness. The loneliest place on the planet is said to be Mongolia’s Gobi Desert which consists mostly of barren rock where temperatures can range from minus-40 degrees to 122 degrees. But without exception the loneliest place in all the world - is the human heart when Christ is absent!
The human heart is only approximately the size of your fist and yet it beats an average of forty million times every year. It pumps an average of 650,000 gallons of blood every year (enough to fill more than 81 railroad cars). The heart does enough work in just one hour to lift a 150 pound man to the top of a 3 story building. It produces enough energy in just 12 hours to lift 65 tons off of the ground, and in an average life span of 70 years the heart produces enough power to lift the largest ship in all the world completely out of the ocean. And yet even with its incredible power the human heart is also the most brittle thing known to man. The human heart is broken very easily. Even though it is only the size of your fist when the heart is filled with loneliness it becomes the heaviest object in all the world. In His boundless grace and mercy Jesus gave us the remedy for loneliness, He said "come unto Me" (Matthew 11:28). A heart disconnected from God is a lonely heart and when we live disconnected from God we try to fill that loneliness and that void with all sorts of things - sex, drugs, alcohol, all manner of meaningless things which succeed only in deepening the loneliness in our heart. Christ alone can write peace upon the human heart and He does so through the power of His atoning Blood. Christ’s desire is to be your constant companion through life because He loves you with an "everlasting love" (Jeremiah 31:3). Imagine the power your tiny heart holds when Jesus Christ lives there. When our heart is Christ's home that small organ no bigger than the size of your fist holds all of eternity itself, because it holds the love of Jesus Christ and His love is boundless and eternal!
As humans you and I also love other people or at least we "say" that we love other people when we are attracted to them or when they make us feel good which means that we love "conditionally." In other words we normally love someone because they fulfill a condition that we require "before" we can love them. Mankind’s love is "conditional." The love that God has for you and I however is completely "unconditional." His Love has always existed. Christ came into a sin-filled world, He became flesh and blood, He became man and dwelt among us to share in the sufferings that we brought upon ourselves as a result of our own sin. Then in the greatest act of love that the world has ever known He gave up His own life on the Cross to take away that sin. Our sins were nailed to the Cross with Him. He Who knew no sin BECAME sin on our behalf so that we could have eternal life - and THAT, is the true hope of mankind! A hope that is displayed in its fullness through the blood-stained Cross.
Absolutely everything that God does flows from His love. When He gives grace it is rooted in His love. When He extends mercy it is rooted in His love. When He offers forgiveness and blessings they are rooted in His
un-conditional love. God’s love transcends our human definition of love to such an extent that we can not comprehend it. God created us to have a loving relationship with Him. He is the very definition of love. No way exists for us to define or experience love outside of knowing God. But if we ignore, deny, or reject Christ then we are discarding the only hope that we have and as a result "loneliness" rules our heart. When we are without Christ we are without hope, and where there is no hope there is only loneliness and heartache. The apostle Paul said that our hope, our joy and our crown of rejoicing is in the Lord Jesus Christ and in Him alone. The only barrier in all the world that exists between you and a life free of loneliness is your own freewill. Lonely walks out only when Christ walks in.
To all who accept Him as Lord and Saviour Jesus makes the wonderful promise You are not alone and you will NEVER be alone. He said "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you" (John 14:18). No matter what you may be going through, no matter how bad or hopeless the situation may appear God’s promises to you are unbreakable, unshakeable, stand forever, and are intertwined with His perfect love, grace, and mercy. Therefore we KNOW that when we travel through the deep darkness of life’s most difficult, trying, sad, and heart-breaking moments that we will always have the presence of Christ right there beside us, matching our every step, His arms stretched forth to steady and uphold us, His heart sharing our tears and pain, His back strong to lift us up and carry us when we simply do not have the strength to go on. One of the greatest truths of God’s nature is that - with Him - we are never alone. "I am with you always" Jesus said, "even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20). "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness" (Isaiah 41:10). "....I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5). "I will heal your broken lonely heart and I will bind your wounds" (Psalm 147:3).
"I will be your refuge, and your strength" (Psalm 46:1).
What a magnificent and priceless comfort it is to know that no matter what, with Jesus - YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
God bless you,
Mark Shutts
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